More than two years after the Calf Canyon/Hermit's Peak wildfire burned hundreds of square miles around Mora and San Miguel counties, some of the victims with the most extensive damage have been informed they are not entitled to compensation.
The wildfire began as prescribed burns set by a federal agency, the U.S. Forest Service. In its aftermath a law was passed promising swift compensation, paid out by a claims office run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA.
But lawyer Antonia Roybal-Mack, who acts for at least 1,000 clients affected by the fire, said in the last two weeks at least ten people have received "Letters of Determination" stating that they are entitled to zero dollars because the agency cannot substantiate their damages.
"They are all on the biggest cases, the most complex cases, the cases that have the most damage," she said.
One such case is her client Roger Romero, whose land suffered extensive erosion as floods poured over the burn scar. He used to raise cattle, sheep and pigs.
"I've had to get rid of my livestock. I'm not raising any hay. I've lost three years of hay already," he said.
Through the lawyer, he submitted engineering reports with extensive details of what it would take to fix his property. But the agency responded with an offer of settlement of zero dollars.
Roybal Mack said she thinks FEMA doesn't have a system in place to process complex claims that sometimes involve loss of trees, loss of access roads, flooding, burned buildings and other damage.
Her clients' options now are to file an appeal with the Director of the Claims Office, and if that is unsuccessful to seek to resolve the dispute through arbitration.
"Arbitration takes time. We don't know who FEMA's arbitrators are going to be. They don't have a process set up for that," she said. After years of waiting with life on hold, the prospect of starting a new process is grim for her clients.
Nearly $4 billion was appropriated by Congress for the compensation program. As of August 27, over $1 billion had been paid out, mostly to individuals and households.
The delays come despite FEMA's appointment of a new director of the claims office earlier this year, Jay Mitchell. FEMA's Assistant Administrator of the Recovery Directorate within the Office of Response and Recovery Colt Hagmaier apologized to victims for the slow process in Las Vegas in April.
"It's what I tell every employee, you're here to maximize the amount of compensation we can provide as quickly as possible," he said.
FEMA's Claims Office in New Mexico wrote in an email to KUNM:
There are many reasons claimants could receive a “zero dollar” Letter of Determination (LOD). Those include, but are not limited to, line items missing documentation and non-compensable claims.
Providing additional clarification, claimants have 150 days to submit paperwork to complete their claims. When we do not receive the requested documentation in that time frame, as has been the situation periodically, claims are administratively closed and zero-dollar LODs may be released.
Claimants may appeal within 120 days, the agency noted.
This story has been updated to include a response from FEMA.
